Module Charlie: How to make the hard, harder

Well, I've been back for about 3 weeks now and I'm almost finished with the third chapter in my MI BOLC experience, Module Charlie (Mod C for short). This one has been a lot of fun; similar to the way in which Mod B was fun. You see, Mod B was fun because I didn't realize until then how intelligent MI personnel really need to be. The S-2 is the battalion intelligence officer and they are the subject matter expert on the enemy, the terrain and weather, and all civil considerations (read: they need to have an answer for whatever strange question the commander asks about these subject areas no matter how obscure or irrelevant). That's a lot to figure out! We're like baseball batters; if we hit the ball 30% of the time then we're doing pretty damn good. And that's a stat that's been given to me by my instructors.

So how do you make all of that more complicated? Make it an unconventional enemy and mash all three categories together in the same operating environment so that everything affects everything else all at the same time. This is what makes Mod C so interesting!

My class has been training in Level 1 Combatives for the last two weeks, which is the Army's hand-to-hand fighting method. It involves a lot of ground wrestling and it's really fun! Since I'm already Level 1 certified, I got to help out as an Assistant Instructor along with the three other guys in my class who are Level 1 certified. But now it looks like the four of us might be able to jump in with the MI Captains to get Level 2 qualified! Which would be really, really exciting. For reference, there are only 4 levels total.

Got to see my girlfriend this weekend, which was a lot of fun. It was really good to see her! We went to Cochise Stronghold on Saturday and climbed for a while on this 140 foot tall rock, then climbed to the top and watched the sun start to set. Sunday we hung out for a while before I had to take her to the airport. Lots of fun.

Ranger School preparations are going strong. I'm working hard to put my body in shape and train up on various tasks that I will be required to perform. Been finding more and more people who have passed Ranger School, too, and I'm hoping that they'll be able to offer me good information about preparation and the school itself.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

Let's try this again, shall we?

Well, I was relatively unsuccessful at posting updates this last month. MI BOLC got the better of me and more often than not I was sleeping instead of writing! But I'll see if I can't try this again and keep things up to date.

So here's the down and dirty on the last few months:

-MI BOLC had been great; I really am living the dream. It's fascinating and difficult work but I love it and I love the idea that every day I have the immense opportunity to hone my craft in the hopes that one day I can make a positive difference in the lives of the servicemen and servicewomen around me.

-As of late November I found out that I will be given the opportunity to attend Ranger School and, should I pass, assume a position as an Assistant S-2 (assistant intellligence officer) for one of the Ranger Battalions in the 75th Ranger Regiment. It's pretty exciting and it caught me completely off guard; I would have bet hard money against them picking me after my performance on the qualification exams. I know I'm going to pass (because I won't let myself quit) but it's still such a weird idea that one day this year I will be a Ranger.

-Christmas and New Years were awesome. I took 12 days of leave and made a nice triangle around the country. First was to California where I was able to see my family and a few friends and then to Baltimore to see my amazing girlfriend. Then back to Arizona!

-Tomorrow our class starts our Combatives training, which is the military form of MMA (mixed-martial arts). Since I'm already Level 1 certified I'll get to help instruct my other classmates for the most part, which should be really fun!

Hope y'all are doing well!